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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24788785">Strength</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleSunrise/pseuds/PurpleSunrise'>PurpleSunrise</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Last of Us</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BDSM, Dom Dina, Dom/sub, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, No Beta, PWP, Porn with Feelings, See beginning notes for warnings, Sub Ellie, Wait there’s sub Dina and Dom Ellie here too actually in a flashback, beta reader offers welcome, established Ellie/Dina, it’s been 10 years at least, practically my first fic, realistically this will probably get very full of feelings because I’m very feelingsy ‘bout my kinks, written before P2’s release so may not be totally cannon-compliant but there’s no major AU stuff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:07:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,434</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24788785</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleSunrise/pseuds/PurpleSunrise</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ellie realises she might be more into having Dina in control than she thought. </p><p>Smut, BDSM, boundary talk and feelings. </p><p>Inspired by “Miss Dina” by lmonty and written like a sequel to it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dina &amp; Ellie (The Last of Us), Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>193</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Strength</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/lmontyy/gifts">lmontyy</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I was totally inspired by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/lmonty/pseuds/lmonty">lmonty’s</a>   <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22276372">Miss Dina </a> to write this. I recommend that fic wholeheartedly and caution you this may be a let down to read afterwards ‘cause hot damn can Monty write, meanwhile this is my first time writing in maybe 10 years.</p><p>I don’t recall if a timescale was mentioned in “Miss Dina” but for the purposes of this fic the context is definitely one where they are very much established. Dina knows Ellie and she knows what she’s doing. </p><p>Warnings: So this here is BDSM, mostly in roles and mindset, but possibly in other ways too. I don’t wanna promise a comprehensive list of any triggers because there’s so much variety in them, but you can comment to ask about specific things if you need to. The only obvious one I can think of is reference to hand and belt spanking (this doesn’t actually happen though.)<br/>I couldn’t find a good place to have them discuss it within the flow of this fic, but they definitely have a safeword sorted.<br/>David gets mentioned and Ellie gets mad but Dina totally fixes it. There’s also a reference/threat of violence there regarding David’s fate.</p><p>I’d be surprised if there weren’t typos and dyslexic moments in here. Please do point these out politely should you wish to.</p><p>Finally, a cliffhanger warning. Well, cliffhanger might be a bit strong but basically fair warning that they don’t get through to the end of the scene by the end. I may write a part 2 if there is interest, so let me know what you think. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dina locks the door behind them. Moving around her cosy house, she bolts each window in turn until the place is at its most secure.  Then her attention turns to a nervous-looking Ellie.</p><p>“On your knees, Williams.”</p><p>Ellie freezes as she turns so ghostly white that the only colour left in her cheeks is the dotting of her freckles. </p><p>Ellie still rooted in place, Dina moves closer and stands face to face with her girlfriend. Slowly and deliberately, she skims her eyes down Ellie’s body, noticing the faded checks of her shirt, lingering as she looks over the belt around the taller woman’s waist, and trailing down to look over her trademark sneakers.</p><p>Ellie feels unusually self-conscious as she watches Dina’s eyes on her. She’d win a fight against this girl any day of the week, so why does she feel like doomed prey being eyed by a stalking hunter?</p><p>Dina’s eyes jolt straight up from Ellie’s sneakers, locking their eyes into a hungry stare. Dina looks the picture of confidence, her expression oozing a sense of delicious threat. Ellie, meanwhile, uncharacteristically struggles to maintain her stare for the several long seconds until Dina breaks the silence.</p><p>Dina’s words are punctuated with loaded pauses. “I won’t. Ask you. Again. On your knees.” Ellie goes wide-eyed.</p><p>
  <i> “I can do this. I can kneel in front of her. I’ve done it enough times already. It’s not different to kneeling down to go down on her. Just like that.” I try to tell myself this bullshit, but my knees aren’t budging easily. The joints feel as if they are locked into place. I watch her stare me down and try to believe that my life depends it, that this is the way to delay another one of the many men who’ve tried and failed to kill me until I have my chance to go in for the kill. My survival instinct is stronger than anything else inside me, and I find myself sinking to the floor as my knees unlock. </i>
</p><p>When Ellie looks up, she realises how little her superior height and strength seem to matter now that Dina towers above her. Dina maintains her stare. “Now, your pistol, hand it over.”</p><p>This one is easy for Ellie, guns give her comfort, but her switchblade was the only weapon she ever counted on. Until Jackson, she’d never been able to rely on ammo supplies anyhow, so handing it over was nothing major. Reaching into the back pocket of her jeans, she retrieves the gun and placed it in the expectant palm that Dina has extended. Dina empties the clip into her pocket, checks the safety is on and places the gun down on a kitchen countertop, carefully ensuring the emptied pistol stays within Ellie’s peripheral vision. </p><p>Dina takes a few slow steps in a circle around her girlfriend. This mindset seems like magic to Dina, she’s pumped with desire and yet feels as if her supplies of patience are limitless. Control over her intense hunger comes easily, and she finally understands how Ellie is able to take things so damn slowly when it’s Dina who is pinned, powerless and pining under Ellie’s stare. </p><p>She finishes her slow, predatory circling and returns to staring Ellie down. “And the blade, Ellie, hand it over.”</p><p>Ellie’s rebellious heart springs to life and her reply is instant. “Fuck you.”</p><p>Dina isn’t surprised at Ellie’s outburst and chucks lightly with a smug grin. “Oh Ellie, you are especially gorgeous when you get threatening. But no, not today, not unless you hand over that blade. Take your time, but know that the choice is this simple: if your want to fuck, you hand over the blade.  If wanna hang on to that blade, then you go ahead and crawl on home with it.”</p><p>There’s a long silence. Dina has her next words planned to perfection, but holds back to let the ultimatum sink in, taking the time to enjoy watching the subtle signs conflict of conflict on Ellie’s face. After several long minutes with no movement from Ellie, Dina goes in for kill.</p><p>“Run on home then, little Ellie, and don’t sweat it, there’s no shame in being scared.”</p><p>Dina really does believes that there’s no shame in being scared, and in reality there’s no way she’d end the evening over it, but she speaks her threat with utter conviction, her words loaded with an ulterior motive. If there was one thing Ellie would hate more than handing over her blade, it was conceding to any adversary, even one she trusted as much as Dina, that she felt afraid of them. In the rare moments when Ellie spoke of her past experiences, of her traumas, she’d never denied her fears in retrospect, but it was clear she’d learnt young that masking her fears in the face of a adversary had upped her chances of survival.</p><p>Ellie sneered, her eyes burning into Dina with an expression that one could easily mistake for hatred, and handed the switchblade over.</p><p>~~~<br/>
“So, ah, in the treehouse, that was a side of you I haven’t seen before.” </p><p>“You mean when I owned your ass until I had you begging hard for it, Williams?  That was great. I know you didn’t think I had it in me to wipe that smug “always on top” confidence off your face, which is what made eyeing up your desperate ass when I did so sweet.  But don’t worry, I’ll let you win next time. After all, we gotta be careful of shattering that fragile baby butch ego of yours.” Dina was lording it, as expected, and the teasing was likely gonna be relentless. That didn’t make it any easier for Ellie to get her reply out.</p><p>“It’s more than I, ah, didn’t see an appeal in it, I guess.”</p><p>Dina twigs the seriousness of Ellie’s comment and, sensing that her lover’s guard is ready to bolt back up any second, she shifts her own tone. With a gentle curiosity in her voice, she responds to Ellie. “Didn’t or don’t?”</p><p>Ellie hesitates. “Ah, er, fuck, okay. Didn’t, I guess.”</p><p>Dina tries to tread carefully. Ellie is trying to open up, but the girl’s never found anything like this easy. Her feelings are intense but she tries to hold them in favour of being light and easy for Ellie’s sake. “And you wanna know if there’s more where that came from, don’t ya, El?” </p><p>Ellie nods slowly, her strained movements their own confession of how painful she finds the admission. Her discomfort is palpable, so Dina tries to put her at ease. “I get that El. If it felt half as good for you as it does for me when I’m at your mercy...” Dina sighs deeply with a fond expression on her face. “Then I guess I blew your mind, like you do mine. And yes, I’d do that again in a heartbeat if you let me.”</p><p>“You ever feel afraid in those situations?” </p><p>“Not really, I get frustrated, I get tense and sometimes I end up kinda hating your smug ass, but I trust you and that enough to make it feel safe for me. Can’t imagine making you feel safe is quite such a easy deal though. You’ve had enough tough breaks to last a lifetime, Williams.”</p><p>Ellie grunts bitterly. Her father’s daughter, any outsider would notice how strikingly the grunt resembles Joel’s. It’s just the reaction Ellie got many a time from Joel when her own questions were unwelcome.</p><p>“Did you feel afraid back in the treehouse, my love?”</p><p>Ellie shakes her head. The unspoken full answer is clear to both of them: No, but she’s definitely afraid right now. </p><p>Dina, meanwhile, feels electric. Ellie shows her vulnerability in her own ways, but this is far beyond anything she’s seen for her lover before. She could get drunk on the warm feeling of Ellie’s trust, but she won’t, not yet, not until Ellie is calmer.  </p><p>Ellie, meanwhile, pulls a book from her backpack. The title couldn’t be more old-world, all about seeking out your fears and not living in safety. Ha, as if there’s been any kind of option in the past 25 years. Man, did those people take shit for granted. Any other time, she’d tease Ellie no end about her willingness to read literally anything that she could find, but Dina knew it wasn’t the moment.</p><p>“I found this on patrol a few weeks ago. It’s so stupid. People used to be scared of the safest things. Funfairs. So many people used to be scared of funfairs. A new job. Not death or loss, just dumb stuff. Can you imagine?”</p><p>“You mean like imagining feeling scared when you know you’re safe really?” </p><p>“Yeah, isn’t it dumb?”</p><p>Dina’s reply is blunt, but without anger. “No, Els, it’s not. Weren’t you ever scared to make a move on me, on Kat, to tell Joel about your love life? Old timers might’ve had more stupid shit to fear, but quit your bullshit, because I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not happening.”</p><p>She pauses to let the words sink in. Sometimes Ellie’s thick skull needs bashing with a brick, but Dina doesn’t neglect the other side of what her beau needs. </p><p>“I know you’re scared right now, Ellie. And you don’t stand a chance of convincing me there’s a thing wrong with that.” </p><p>Dina moves in closer, time to turn up the heat, she thinks. She gets close enough to Ellie’s ear to whisper, but angles herself so that her breath tickles Ellie’s neck, a place she knows is much more sensitive for Ellie than her ear, as she speaks.  “Ever think that I might even like having you a little on edge, Williams?” Ellie is already shivering at the tickle from Dina’s breath. “Makes a person so much more sensitive.” Dina’s words together with her warm breath are enough to made Ellie shudder. “Yeah, just like that.”</p><p>“And you know as well I do how easy it is to turn someone from sensitive to needy, don’t you, Ellie?”</p><p>Ellie’s cheeks start to burn hot from the war inside her. She wants to push back, to tell Dina that it’s her who will be the needy one. She wants to push away the shame, the weakness she feels at all of this. But her desires aren’t as simple as those first instincts. There’s a part of her that wants the opposite, to lay back and let herself get lost in Dina’s spell, to let herself get as needy as Dina threatens. The war ends, as many do, with an unhappy truce. Ellie neither shoves Dina off nor lets herself go. She simply stays quiet and shudders once more as a now-quiet Dina pulls her close. Glad to avoid the subject of their conversation, Ellie snuggles into Dina, letting herself be held. </p><p>Once Ellie is calmer, Dina resumes speaking, this time with a gentle strength to it. “I know it’s not easy, but we should talk about what kinda things appeal to you. You wanna just have me ask and you can nod or shake your head, that be easier?”</p><p>Ellie nods, her eyes not meeting Dina’s. </p><p>“So I wonder, is it more about being physically overpowered than taking orders?“</p><p>Dina is taken aback when Ellie shakes her head, then immediately grateful that Ellie’s downward glance will have kept from seeing so. It’s not that Dina minds this answer, it’s just so very unexpected from Ellie. So much so she thinks it’s best to clarify, “So just to be clear, you want to take orders from me?”</p><p>Her girlfriend’s nod is nearly imperceptible but after a beat she speaks. “I never took orders well, there were plenty to go around at military school and it pissed me off. So I don’t know, I’d probably swear rather than obey, but the idea of you dishing them out is kinda hot, at least.” </p><p>“So the idea is hot but you actually complying isn’t?”</p><p>Ellie sighs, this is complicated and she’s not gonna get out of a spoken answer here. “It’s more like, okay, I can imagine this stuff and it seems appealing in theory. But then I know in reality I’m more likely to wanna threaten to punch you in the face in than to be all ‘Sir, yes, sir.’ about it.”</p><p>“Ah, I think gotcha. So getting bossy with you, hot. The idea of you agreeing, hot. The reality that you think you’d most likely turn around and punch me, less hot.”</p><p>“Pretty much.”</p><p>“Well then maybe you need some discipline to help you out with that?” </p><p>“Discipline? Like 5am marches to make me a better soldier? Er, one, no fuckin’ thank you and two, if it didn’t work for Sargent Douchebag it ain’t gonna work for you.”</p><p>“No, Ellie, not like 5am marches. Not like that at all.“ </p><p>Ellie’s uncertain intrigue is the most charmingly naive thing that Dina has possibly ever seen. Biting her tongue, she can’t help but curse all the opportunities to tease the hell out of Ellie that are getting lost in this delicate encounter. </p><p>Instead, she moves back a little, enough to gaze over Ellie’s whole body and in turn have her gaze be noticed by her lover. She gestures to her palm, before she visibly turns her head to eye up Ellie’s bottom. She lightly taps the air like a gentle spank, eyes still hungrily checking out her partner’s ass. Ellie’s eyes widen, intrigued, so Dina ups the ante with a clear gesture towards the leather belt belt hugging Ellie’s hips. Dina only gets a glimpse of Ellie’s eyes widening further because in the same moment her girlfriend hangs her head to hide her face as she squeaks out a reply. </p><p>“That could work.”</p><p>Ellie keeps her face mostly hidden, but what Dina can see of it is flaming pink. And she’s tensed up again. <i> Oh Ellie, why all the shame? Don’t you know that this is as hot as it is brave? </i> Inwardly sighing, Dina resolves to massage Ellie’s ego a little. </p><p>After thinking for a second, she replies. “I’ll try, but I might have to strength my arm up first, reckon you could take a hell of a lot pain if you wanted to, Williams. Might need you to show me how you get those arms so buff if I’m gonna stand a chance of subduing your ass from a beating.”</p><p>Dina’s agenda is obvious to both of them, but that didn’t stop it from working perfectly. Head still down, Ellie considered her own arms, pride beaming at the strength she build in them over the years. Nothing made her feel strong like knowing she could take down a fucker twice her size. Lifting her head, a smirking face emerged. “Sorry, Dina, but I think it’d take a magician to get those weedy things as strong as mine. Maybe you wanna pray to St Jude, I heard he’s the patron saint of lost causes so maybe he can help you out with that.” </p><p>They both knew Dina was hardly weedy, but she let the banter go. Damned if she was letting Ellie distract her into changing the topic of conversation just yet. </p><p>The conversation continues to see-saw. Tricky questions opposed by tenderness and banter, well-matched enough to even things out, but not enough to keep things stable. During another calm moment, Dina braces herself for what she suspects might biggest bump yet. “What about anything that’s totally off-limits?”</p><p>Fuck. That question. The answer was clear but there was only one way Ellie was gonna manage to stay it out loud. She braced herself, her face turning into hard edges, eyes burning with rage. She lifts her head back up and makes eye contact. “The last fucker who compared me to a rabbit got his fucking face hacked off with machete, so unless you fancy the same treatment you better not even think about doing the same thing.”</p><p>This was the closest Dina had come to seeing other side of her gentle, playful lover first-hand. Fighting off the odd infected together, she’d seen that Ellie could act with swift, unflinching violence when needed, but fighting the infected carried no hate. Each one was a human descended into a mindless tragedy, and putting them down inspired no real malice, but this was something altogether different.</p><p>Dina knew that Ellie had fought for her life more times than enough against humans too, but she’d never seen it for herself. Ellie was fucking menacing, eyes daring Dina to defy her and words spoken like a cold-blooded killer. At that moment, it was a bigger blessing than ever that Dina knew Ellie so well. It mean she still felt safe as Ellie spat out her threatening reply, meant that she saw that it was trauma fuelling her every word, meant she knew what to do next. In her most charming, confident and teasing voice she bellowed back at Ellie, tongue nested in her cheek. “Sir, yes, sir! Message received, obey William’s orders under threat of death for insubordination, understood!” A mock salute followed before she added, “Permission to be at-ease, sir?”</p><p>Dina’s surprising and silly response thrust Ellie back into the present, and her own spirit was back in full force. “Permission denied. Down and give me 20.” </p><p>When Dina looked back at her with a confused expression, she laughed. “Ha, you’re lucky you made it here, my friend, you’d have died on your ass at military school.” </p><p>From there, the conversation kept its upbeat tone, and between between jokes, euphemisms and the odd awkward moment, Dina got a clear picture of what their night in the treehouse had got Ellie craving. So much so that by the time they called it a night, Dina was already halfway there with what she planned to do about it. </p><p>~~~<br/>
Yet even on the night, Ellie’s doubts resurfaced. </p><p>“You, you don’t have to.<br/>
I mean it’s...” Ellie fumbles and trails off. </p><p>“Tell me, El, how does it feel when I beg?”</p><p>Ellie’s mind flashes straight to her memory of the last time. Dina has sweat dotted over her face, hair that’s snuck out of her bun wet from it and framing her face. She’s naked, her nipples hard and her legs as wide open as Ellie position on top of her allows. Her face and chest flushed a delicious shade of pink. Dina’s speech is broken up unevenly with panting breathes. her eyes are locked into Ellie’s, two pools filled with hunger so intense it gives way to vulnerability. “However you want, Ellie. Your fingers, your mouth, your body grinding into mine, I don’t care. I’ll take whatever you want. Have me anyway you like, just please don’t make me wait anymore. I know who I belong to, Ellie, I know who’s in control here, but please, oh God please...” </p><p>Ellie is moved, but she can’t resist a final taunt as adjusts their positions, sliding down the bed until Dina’s vulva is within each reach of her fingers. She flexes her fingers as she speaks, “‘I know who I belong to,’ you say, but who is that, Dina?”</p><p>Dina’s groan as Ellie speaks is half rage and half unconditional desire. Dina doesn’t hesitate to answer “You, Ellie, I belong to you.” </p><p>Ellie times her first thrust with Dina’s words. Her two long fingers reach to their deepest point just as Dina finishes her sentence. She feels drunk from power, lost in a moment of desire and abandon. </p><p>Back in the present, Ellie hasn’t realised that she’s grinning, nor that Dina can see her nipples harden through her shirt despite the plenty warm weather. Dina is grinning, too. If there’s one thing she knows, it’s how Ellie’s mind works. “So, El, I asked you a question. How does it feel when I beg? You think I might feel much the same when it’s you?”</p><p>~~</p><p>Dina examines the switchblade, taunting Ellie right in her line of sight. Here, now, Ellie doesn’t look down or down or away, this isn’t an embarrassing conversation anymore, she muses, it’s a war. And she won’t back down. “Dina can’t make me weak enough to break,” she resolves to herself, “No-one can.”</p><p>Dina, already 10 steps ahead of Ellie, knows this too. In her mind, she’s too busy gloating to keep her secrets, she’s read Ellie’s mind and she answers back. “Oh, Ellie, don’t you realise yet that you have it all wrong? When I’m done with you, you’ll finally learn that you’re strong enough to break.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As I mentioned, this is the first fiction I’ve written in a long time, and I’m not sure how it went, so please let me know. A part 2 is entirely possible if there’s interest. Thanks for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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